A great slow cooker spiced recipe!

With Fall on the weather map and the holidays not too far away, spice baskets and bundles are becoming a hot item again! And fall always brings great slow cooker spiced recipes!

I have to try this new recipe in the slow cooker. It’s a 5 spice powder meatball concoction! I don’t have any 5 spice powder but I looked it up and thought it wouldn’t be too hard to try to concoct –

I do have 1 tsp. J.O. Spice Cinnamon, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice ground cloves, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice Fennel Seed*, 1 tsp. J.O. Spice star anise*, and 1 tsp. ground Szechwan pepper which are the ingredients for Chinese 5 spice powder. I have read that when you don’t have Szechwan pepper, just use regular black pepper or the 5 peppercorns blends…J.O. does sell both green and pink peppercorns, too, FYI. Some people also substitute allspice for the anise…I think it’s all in what you have, what you want to taste and your tastebuds. Either way, give your tastebuds a party!

*You will need to toast and then grind both of these.  Place some seeds on a baking sheet or saute pan, let heat until you can smell the seeds, then either grind in a mortar and pestle or in your blender. Star Anise is hard to grind down manually but it can be done. It’s worth all the hard work for the flavor!

After you have prepared the J.O. Fennel Seed and the J.O. Star Anise, combine them with the other 3 spices -blend them together in the blender or mortar and pestle.

(Store the remaining spice in an air tight container.  Some  more 5 spice powder recipe ideas:

• Sprinkle over fish fillets, add brown sugar and soy sauce
• Use on top of chicken, bake with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar
• Sprinkle over vegetables in your stir fry

I think you’ll find that a little bit of work amounts to huge TASTE payoffs!)

5 Spice Powder Meatball Concoction a’ la J.O. Style!

Make your meatballs:

• 1 1/2 pounds  ground meatloaf mix (beef, pork and veal)
• 1 cup  panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 scallions, sliced, plus more for garnish
• 2 tsp. J.O. Spice ginger
• 1 teaspoon  J.O. onion powder
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (just a side note, this can be bought in the store but they say it’s fresher to do yourself.)
• 1 tablespoon  reduced-sodium soy sauce

Make these meatballs big -about a 1/3 cup each.

Combine these ingredients:

• 1 cup  beef broth
• 1/2 cup  ketchup
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons  rice vinegar

Pour into the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the meatballs. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 (make sure to check the meatball temp before eating~160 degrees).

It’s just a small way to fall back in love with slow cooker recipes. This recipe might seem like a lot of work…but you can cheat by buying the pre-made 5 spice powder or you can experiment as there are so many spices that can make a great meal.

What are you cooking this weekend in your slow cooker?

🙂 Pamela